March 5, 2012

Run for Dessert Half-Marathon

Today is Monday, which means... long run. Jessica and I had a 13-miler on the schedule today. I've only run that far once, and it was the Indy half-marathon last May. I made sure to plan everything out just as I would a race. I ate really well yesterday, drank tons of water, even woke up at 3:00 AM to drink a bunch of water. We agreed to meet at 8:10.

It was cold and snowy this morning when I got up :( But I dressed warm, had some oatmeal with Nutella, packed up some stuff to bring with me (iPod, water bottle with Nuun, and some gummy energy things). I met Jessica at 8:10, and just as I pulled up, she shook her head "no" and I thought, "Oh, crap." She was on her cell phone with her son's school, and one of her twins threw up at school and she had to go get him.

Her husband was working, so there was nothing she could do but postpone the run. She said her husband should be home by noon, so we could go then. I went home and had some tea and watched last night's episode of Desperate Housewives. I didn't want to eat a big lunch before the run, so I just made a protein shake and had that at 10:30. Then I went to Jessica's at noon. We had to run from her house instead of running at the Metropark so that I could be home in time to get the kids off the bus.

I had a route all mapped out, so we headed out right away. I felt really good for the first half of the run. Our pace was faster than usual too. Usually we do our long runs at about an 11:10/mi pace, but today we were averaging between 10:35/mi and 10:45/mi. We stopped for a drink a little after mile 6, and I drank some of the Nuun. Gross!

I had never tried Nuun before, but I wasn't a fan. I had the citrus fruit flavor, and it was pretty gross. It was after that when my stomach started to feel crampy. Not too bad, but definitely noticeable. At about nine miles in, I really felt like I needed a bathroom. But I kept running, hoping the feeling would pass. We stopped for another drink at mile 10. After that, I really felt like shit. My stomach felt super bloated and really crampy and gross.

The last 3 miles were awful. I wanted to stop so badly, because my stomach was cramping something fierce. We finished out 13.1 miles (to complete a half-marathon distance, of course), and then I gave Jessica a medal I made. We were both talking about how it sucks to run a half-marathon and not get anything for it, so I made medals for us :)

Finish time: 2:20:14

I'm so glad to have this run over with. And this run made me so discouraged that I can even finish a full marathon in May (or EVER). I'm going to try switching back to Gatorade next week instead of the Nuun and see if the Nuun may have been the culprit of my stomach cramps. (ETA: I just checked, and sure enough, the second ingredient of Nuun is sorbitol--which is the artificial sweetener in a lot of foods that cause "gastrointestinal distress".)

Unfortunately, since we had to do our run in the afternoon, we weren't able to celebrate at Whole Foods. Which is probably good, because I'm going to be celebrating in my bathroom all day. You know my stomach hurts when dessert doesn't even sound good!!

Tomorrow is Jessica's birthday, so we're going to head to Whole Foods for lunch since we couldn't go today. I'll definitely get my share of dessert tomorrow.

I've never heard of Nuun, but just the sound of it would make me pass. Do you recommend Gu or the Power bar gel bites for long runs? I think my body still has enough fat on it to work from that during a long run! So far, it's been just plain water and I've been good gastro-intestinally.

I was just in the market for cannellini beans for my sausage soup and I was so hoping to find a nice dessert or a 4-pk of muffins on the sale rack. Nothing. So I have a french toast bagel waiting for me for breakfast tomorrow morning!! I HEART CARBS!!

Don't let those not so great runs discourage you!! There will be plenty of great long runs in your training that will give you the confidence you need! I try to stay away from all of that artificial garbage, so I do coconut water in place of gatorade or nuun. It has rehydrated me successfully during many long runs :) Also in place of GU during training I use Lara Bars that I pre cut into bite size pieces.

I am really tired of the stomach cramps/nausea due to premade electrolyte replacements on my long runs. I never had the issue before this year. I found this earlier today and I am going to try and make my own at home with natural ingredients to see if it works. http://www.ehow.com/how_7172234_make-electrolyte-replacement-drink.html

Oh man! I've never tried Nuun... I always drink Powerade and have a few Shot Bloks for miles over 10 miles! Also, I love the "Running For Dessert" half marathon. You're so creative - the medals are precious!

That is the great thing about training runs is you find out what you can and can't drink/eat. Some oatmeals make me wanna puke I have to do the lower sugar ones prerun. I only stick to G2 for my electrolytes. I wear a 4 bottle fuel belt and carry my G2 and gu packets in it. I drink water at fuel stops and G2 for electrolytes replacement.

side note on the fuel belt, I just bought my husband one because our running group requires hydration on our saturday long runs. He has worn it twice and said he was afraid it would bug him but he couldn't even tell he was wearing it!

I love the clif shot blocks and water. The first time I tried the gu I was so grossed out and then my husband tried it on a run and threw up on and off till we got home. I'm starting marathon training in June do maybe I'll make myself a medal too for when I run the half (or maybe you can sell some)

I love the clif shot blocks and water. The first time I tried the gu I was so grossed out and then my husband tried it on a run and threw up on and off till we got home. I'm starting marathon training in June do maybe I'll make myself a medal too for when I run the half (or maybe you can sell some)

I'm sure you will feel better about your long run next time, without drinking the Nuun. I applaud your determination! I can't even imagine running 5k let alone a full or half marathon! Good luck on next week's long run and I hope you thoroughly enjoy your lunch at Whole Foods! I'm going to have to find where the closest one to me is and check it out!

Our internet has been down for almost 2 weeks now so I haven't been able to keep up on your posts or comment on them but I was able to catch up on them all at work today. (yeah, I know I'm supossed to be working but oh well) I feel like I missed so much! I'm so proud of you both for doing the half marathon, you guys are rock stars and totally deserved those medals! I hope you feel better and get your yummy dessert! Happy Birthday to Renee! : )

Your homemade medals are TOO cute! I have never heard of Nuun, but it sounds terrible. Have you ever tried Advocare products? I have been drinking Advocare's Spark for a few years, and it is seriously an awesome product. I will send you a sample if you want to try it without having to purchase an entire box...

I'd love to hear from you! I read all of my comments, and if you have a question, I do my best to respond; sometimes, however, I get busy and forget to go back to reply, so if it's important, just email me! :) (I had to turn on comment moderation due to a ton of spam comments; but I will approve your comment asap!)

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